The Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) added a new toll free number this week to insure they are easily accessible to the public and first responders when emergencies happen in the oilfield.

The RRC is responsible to regulate the exploration, production, and transportation of oil and natural gas in Texas, which includes investigating accidents and inspecting pipelines. Companies contact the RCC when they have any environmental emergency, discharge, spill, or air release from oil and gas facilities, pipelines, or alternative fuels.

During emergencies, the RRC works closely with first responders to provide support with a staff that is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The agency added the new number (844-773-0305) to streamline operations and improve efficiency.

Commissioner Christi Craddick said, “Public safety and the protection of our natural resources are our highest priority at the Commission. While we never want to see an emergency situation arise, our staff is on call and ready to support emergency responders including providing information and overseeing any related cleanup efforts.”

The Railroad Commission also offers other resources on its website to help companies stay on top of safety concerns including emergency planning forms, safety FAQs and training.

This unusual request was a result of a highly-publicized and debated study conducted by SMU researchers that concluded two specific wastewater injection wells are likely the cause of a rare string of earthquakes over the last few years (more here). Though the public seems convinced of this causal link, Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton said publicly he is ‘unconvinced’.

XTO, a subsidiary of ExxonMobile, presented mounds of evidence to defend their fracking practices including more than 30 exhibits, dozens of slides, and three expert witnesses. The company argued that the unusual seismic activity was a natural occurrence and in hopes that the RRC from shutting down their wells.

Tim George, an attorney for XTO said that “The earth has been moving continuously over time, and that movement is the result of natural tectonic forces far away but that express themselves right here”

This is the first time the commission has required a company to prove it’s not to blame for earthquakes. Recent policy changes now allow the agency to revoke permits if wells are linked to earthquakes.

The peer reviewed study led by researchers at SMU concluded that earthquakes in the north Texas communities of Azle and Reno were likely triggered by the wastewater disposal methods used by fracking companies. This common process is to inject the saltwater waste through high pressure methods deep into storage facilities underground.

During the meeting, SMU geophysics professor Heather DeShon reaffirmed the findings stating that “You only need a pressure change of 1.5 PSI to trigger an earthquake on a critically-stressed fault line,”

During the meeting, the scientists also asked Commissioner Ryan Sitton for a list of things that would be helpful for further studies including:

Requiring disposal well operators to provide bottom hole measurements would be very helpful in their research.

Getting saltwater disposal volume and pressure data on either a monthly or quarterly basis instead of yearly

“I have not reached the conclusion that oil and gas activity is the causal factor,” said Craig Pearson, the Railroad Commission’s staff seismologist. “While we remain concerned about seismic activity in the state, we still haven’t had a hearing where we’ve had a definite case made that a specific operator is associated with any specific earthquake activity.”

Texas Railroad Commission released its latest statistics showing the state’s oil and gas production continues to impress, with the Eagle Ford leading the way.

Original drilling permits issued for April dropped from 1,919 last year to 848. Of the April total, 721 permits were for new oil and gas wells, 9 to re–enter existing well bores and 118 for re–completions.Broken down even further, April permits included 218 for oil, 51 gas, 530 oil and gas, 40 injection, zero service and nine other.

Statewide, well completions were up in April 2015, with operators reporting 1,867 oil, 314 gas, 125 injection and one other completions. In april 2014, there were 1,012 oil, 92 gas, 21 injection and four other completions. Total well completions for the year are still down by several thousand over this time last year.

Activity in the Eagle Ford continues lead the state in April with 176 permits to drill oil and gas, 222 oil completions and 94 gas completions.

Railroad Commissioner, Cristi Craddick said that “Texas’ prime production conditions have provided an environment well-suited for a dynamic, thriving oil and gas industry. Today, Texas continues to drive America’s competitiveness in the world’s oil market and ultimate independence from OPEC.””

The Commission estimates that final production for March 2015 was 84,879,948 barrels of crude oil and 533,174,979 Mcf of gas, with Eagle Ford counties remaining on top:

In April, scientists published a study in the scientific journal, Nature Communications, confirming that oil and gas activities are likely to blame for a series of earthquakes in Azle and Reno Texas. At a meeting scheduled for June 5th, Commissioner Ryan Sitton and other technical staff will join the scientists and researchers to discuss the findings.

Commissioner Sitton has established the following goals for the meeting:

1) To understand the nature of this and similar studies

2) To explore what additional data could contribute to better scientific understanding on the processes that may be involved

3) To assess how these data might be efficiently and economically obtained

4) To determine what additional information could be requested of operators

5) To consider what regulatory changes the Railroad Commission could make to ensure that oil and gas continues to be developed safely yet with minimal economic impact in Texas

6) To discuss what future research and study is taking place that will enhance and further refine the scientific findings for Azle and other areas in Texas.

The Texas Railroad Commission (RRC) released its monthly oil and gas statistics this week confirming a slowdown for production and drilling for the Eagle Ford and across Texas.

Drilling Permits

In March, the RRC issued a total of 923 original drilling permits, a 50% decline from 2014 when 1,894 were issued.

The March total included 799 permits to drill new oil and gas wells, 16 to re-enter existing well bores and 108 for re-completions. Permits issued in March 2015 included 239 oil, 75 gas, 556 oil and gas, 41 injection, three service and nine other permits.

The March total included 799 permits to drill new oil and gas wells and of that, 109 went to the San Antonio area, which is in the heart of the Eagle Ford. 239 permits were issued for oil, 75 for gas and 556 for oil and gas.

Oil & Gas Completions

The total year-to-date well completions for 2015 are 5,946 down from 10,130 recorded during the same period in 2014.

The Eagle Ford continues to outproduce other Texas areas in oil production with Karnes, La Salle and DeWitt counties maintaining the lead. Following are top oil and gas producing counties in February, 2015 according to the RCC.Top Counties